Android-powered Archos IMT due in September

Despite the somewhat disappointing press event Archos held in Paris today, don't give up on that voice-enabled Android Internet Media Tablet (IMT) first revealed in early February. Although the new device wasn't actually shown today, ArchosFans notes that Archos' CEO kicked off his keynote by talking briefly about the upcoming line of Android IMT products, which are evidently slated for launch "on or before September 15th at another event."

Since this fits in nicely with early information citing a Q3 launch, it may not be a bad idea to assume that the previously released specs could be spot-on as well. If that's the case, then come September, we can expect to see a 0.39-inch thin slate-style device with a 5-inch touchscreen, up to 500GB of internal storage, 7-hour video battery life, HD video support, integrated 3.5G connectivity, and web browser with Flash support. Oh, and don't forget about the "laptop-like performance from the first implementation of [the] OMAP3440 processor based on the ARM Cortex superscalar microprocessor and DSP" promised in the original press release.

About the Author

Jenn K. Lee is the founder of Pocketables. She loves gadgets the way most women love shoes and purses. The pieces in her tech wardrobe that go with everything are currently the Samsung Galaxy Note II, Sony Tablet P, and Nexus 7, but there are still a couple of vintage UMPCs/MIDs in the back of her closet.

5″ screen is too big for a phone but if Archos showed it off today, people might think twice about buying the Pre or iPhone 3GS. Since they mention a line of products, maybe a smaller version with 3.5″ max screen will come out too.

JC

If it supports bluetooth, you can pair the IMT with a headset. You never have to worry about putting a 5 inch screen to your face. (And if the device is about the size of a Moleskine pocket notebook, then it’s totally pocketable.)

What may ultimately make the IMT more appealing though is a vibrant Android Marketplace. Laptop-like performance doesn’t mean much if there isn’t the software to take advantage of it.

rudy

Hopefully it’ll live up to the hype.

And it’ll be better supported than the archos 5 or 7

Charbox

Hype? No way.

It will be the most amazing eletronic device in the history of humanity. Those who have suffered with the iPhone, Pre, and (gag) anything related to Windows will take a look at this new Archos product and immediately throw away their old devices, and run run run to the nearest store to buy anything made by Archos.

It is only 1% heavier and larger than the iPhone but has 20 times the pixels and 42 times the screen area, with a processor that is estimated to have 1200 times more power than the new iPhone 3.

Not only that, but Archos has their own special optimized version of Android which runs 78 times faster, with a web browser that is 11 times faster at rendering pages than Safari 4.

And it will work right out of the box with every known wireless and 3G and 3.5G and 4G protocol (including the rare 3.1415 protocol used China).

The market for this will be every person in every continent in the whole world.